Safe
by intensedreams
Summary: Regina awakes in the dead of night after she was rescued from Greg Mendell


Ok, so i have fudged the timeline a tiny bit for this to work. In the show David says they are family in the same conversation as them finding out about the trigger but that isn't conducive to sleepy comfort times!  
I ship this pair so hard, for so many reasons, and it irritates me when people have the notion that Swan Queen is all about smut - not that i object to said smut - but these two have so much to give each other. To me they are on the same level as Xena & Gabrielle heh.

Anyway, not my chars, not for profit, yadda yadda ya.  
Let me know what you think, feedback is always good :)

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Several things started to filter through Regina's consciousness, percolating slowly. Softness. Warmth. Comfort. She could hear the familiarity of her son's distinctive snuffle not far away, the sounds of gentle snoring from above through walls... Snow? It figured that she was a dainty snorer. Regina did an internal snort of amusement, unable to fully rise to being awake. She floated in this half awareness, content for the moment, her body surprisingly free from the agony she had endured at the hands of Greg and Tamara. She felt as though she was underwater, not quite able to comprehend everything that had happened, like she was wading through glue which gave when she tried but held her firm otherwise, a soporific? She wondered at the gentle treatment. Her resigned enduring of the torture was... unpleasant, but Regina couldn't help herself with taunting Greg once she was safe in the knowledge that Emma was coming for her. Emma. The Saviour coming to save the Evil Queen. It was laughable really, but Regina couldn't help but remember the bloom of hope that had appeared in her chest when she heard the Blondes name being mentioned. Her mind drifted off again, swirling in the welcoming nothingness that the almost sleep oblivion had, vaguely concluding that Emma always seemed to save her.

It occurred to her that there was gentle breathing in her ear, an arm flung carelessly across her midriff, a body pressed up against her side. It didn't occur her to be outraged or annoyed at whoever it may be, and she just accepted it with drowsy contentment. It had been a long time since she had felt such simple physical contact, other than very brief hugs from Henry. She would be loathe to admit it out loud but she craved physical contact with people, however, _that _was a sign of weakness, that her mother had gone to great lengths to teach her. A wave of sorrow shot through her at the though of her mother. _You would have been enough_, she had gasped before... before she was gone. The blanket of darkness overtook her thoughts again, welcoming her into the nothingness.

The arm covering her twitched bringing her back to the present, pulling her into the warm body gently. Curiosity piqued again, Regina struggled her way to the surface of her mind and forced her eyelids open. Semi darkness covered the apartment, _Snow's_ apartment, with some light from the street trickling through the windows. She looked down to see a slender arm curled around her, and followed it back to its sleeping owner. Her eyes tracked down the figure to see tight denim-clad legs pressed against her own, feet gently tangled. She started the journey back up the body and was met with blonde hair tumbling around shoulders and spilling onto herself as well, caressing her cheek, neck and probably mingling with her own hair. Regina was distracted for a moment, slipping back into her dreamlike haze as she contemplated the light and the dark colliding and embracing each other. She opened her eyes again just a crack to observe Emma's face out the corner of her eye, her chin resting on Regina's shoulder.. The Saviours face was serious, even in sleep.

Regina allowed her eyes to shut again, sinking back into the dark. She couldn't ignore the almost painful lightness she felt in her heart at the fact that Emma had come for her again, that these people had come for her, that she had _people _full stop. She felt almost light headed at the simple pleasure of having someone hold her. Regina was _glad_ that it was Emma. Even if the blonde was unaware of the feeling of _happiness _she was gifting to the older woman. She would be loath to admit it out loud but she had always held the other woman in high regard, first for having the_ balls _to stand up to her when she was trying her hardest to terrorise her, then later for having regard for herself, for considering her as a person, instead of The Evil Queen as everyone else had her labelled. She felt, dare she say, _affection_ for the stubborn blonde. Perhaps more- Regina tried to clamp down on that line of thought as quickly as her mind would allow, but it was like struggling through quicksand.

_Love... _or at least the seeds of it, a mere hint, swirled in Regina's mind. Internally she scoffed, there was _no way_ it could ever come to be. _Love was weakness... _she allowed her mind to go blank again, the dusk enveloping her. _Love_.

The soft sounds of footsteps emanated from upstairs as someone got up. David, Regina deduced at the slightly heavier footfall. She heard steps coming down the stairs, and cracked her eyelids open a touch to observe a shadowy figure make its was quietly to the sink and retrieve a glass before filling it from the tap. David started to head back to the stairs with his drink before Regina gathered up the notion to drop his name softly from her lips, calling him to her. David paused briefly before coming to the bed, his face illuminated gently by the street lights.

"Regina, how are you feeling?" Charming observed his daughter pressed up against the prone woman with a quirk of an eyebrow. "Is she bothering you?" He asked, indicating Emma.

"No, she's... fine... she's asleep. I don't want to wake her," Regina focussed on making sentences through the mental fog. "Is everyone...?" She petered out, taking a deep breath to stop the wave of tiredness from submerging her.

"Neal is gone." Her eyes flashed up at David, wide, thoughts jarring into uncomfortable clarity. "Snow and I got you to safety Regina, and Neal and Emma... they went after Tamara... She had a magic bean and shot Neal. He fell through the portal." Regina nodded before realising Charming probably couldn't see her clearly in the dim light.

She tried to clear her through softly before responding, "Did they get away? You should have left me and all gone after them. They are dangerous people-"

"Regina, despite our differences, we are family... We were not about to just leave you in the state you were in." David intoned firmly, the matter not up for discussion. Regina swallowed thickly, an unfamiliar tinge of emotion flowing through her.

Changing the subject, Regina asked about the Blonde currently nestled against her. "Neal is gone? Is Emma...?"

"She's pretty upset. Catatonic really. She didn't say much to be honest. Stared a lot before eventually getting into the bed" David paused, the _with you _went unsaid. He observed both women with a thoughtful look. "Its clear that you both have a connection with each other, though it is... chaotic." The man finished pointedly. "And Henry is pretty upset too but he will be OK. He's on the couch."

Regina nodded again, before thanking David for filling her in. She saw the man quirk his lips at this very civil conversation, before he bid her goodnight and moved back up the stairs. She allowed her thoughts to slip back under the blanket, just allowing herself to _feel_. A jumbled mess of something sat in her chest when it came to the woman next to her. For the moment though, she was so desperately tired, and let those thoughts go with the tide. Regina shifted infinitesimally closer to her saviour, and settled further into the comfortable feeling emanating from the Blonde. The arm across her midriff tightened a touch, possessively and Emma released a soft sigh, rubbing her chin gently against the brunettes shoulder before she burrowed her face further into the woman's neck. Regina closed her eyes, the feeling of being_ safe _embracing her like a lover. She turned her head a fraction, resting her lips gently against the blondes forehead for a second, before settling her cheek there.

There would be things happening tomorrow, Regina concluded, important things. And tangled emotions to wade through from now on. But for now, she was happy to surrender to the tide and slipped off into oblivion again.


End file.
